


Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

by JadelynTate



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, DO NOT READ THIS!, Gen, Spoilers, if you don't want to know about what happens in, massive spoilers, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 09:50:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14494335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadelynTate/pseuds/JadelynTate
Summary: MASSIVE MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR INFINITY WAR. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED!!!!I don't want to spoil anything so I didn't tag it as massively as I normally would have. Summary can be found inside.





	Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

**Author's Note:**

> Summary: When Thor goes looking for Jane and Darcy after the events of Infinity War, he gets more than he bargained for. 
> 
> It kinda grew away from me. It was supposed to be a simple one-shot of going to find who survived and it ballooned into a more complicated plot filled with some of my personal theories as to what is coming in A4 and how things will ultimately get resolved. I'm finished with it though (for now, I may add on more later if there's interest).

“What now?” 

Thor wasn’t sure who had asked the question. It had set off a flurry of activity, however, as Princess—Queen now—Shuri decided the best course of action was to regroup and determine what and who had been lost. She and the warrior Okoye had amassed their remaining forces and taken a tally—as suspected, a little over half were gone. Wakanda itself was in a state of shock and Shuri’s first act as ruling monarch was to reluctantly close Wakanda again to outsiders until they could get themselves organized and put things back together. 

Some of the remaining Avengers didn’t approve but Thor, who’d been trained since birth to one day rule and who had so recently lost his own home and people, understood. Midgard was in chaos, it was only logical that she protect first her people before helping anyone else. 

A few days after Thanos, after the purge or rapture or whatever the Midgardians chose to call it, a ship came to Earth. As they watched it land outside the barrier, Queen Shuri seemed ready and more than willing to kill whoever came out. However, Thor and Rocket immediately began running. Rocket had lost Groot but it seemed at least one of his team remained for the Asgardian King recognized the ship.

“Do not shoot upon the vessel,” Thor commanded of the warriors who’d ran with them. “It is an ally.” 

And he wasn’t wrong, though it shocked them all when the person to step out of the ship first was not one of the Guardians, but the Man of Iron, Stark. 

“Tony,” Steven whispered and when Thor glanced at him, his expression was conflicted, half relief and half wariness. Thor frowned. 

“Rogers, Bruce,” Stark replied back, looking relieved as well. He strode forward and wrapped himself around Rogers and Banner, who was standing with him. It was uncharacteristic of the man but Thor had long suspected the disappearance caused by Thanos was not limited to Midgard. Gamora had said as such herself, that the mad Titan had always intended to wipe out half of everyone, not just a single planet. 

“Where are they?!” 

Thor turned away from his teammates to find Rocket staring up, heartbroken, at a blue skinned woman with cybernetic implants who had exited the ship. The woman caught his eye, frowned, then looked down at Rocket. And Thor knew. 

“Thanos killed Gamora to acquire the Soul Stone,” she said and despite her matter-of-fact tone, Thor could see how much this information pained her. Rocket gave a little cry as she added, “Starlord, Drax, and Mantis were…” 

“Turned to ash,” Stark said and Thor glanced at him. He looked devastated as he unwrapped himself from his teammates. “Strange and…and Peter too. The two of us were the only ones left, so we came here.”

“I intend to leave now that I have delivered Stark to you,” the blue skinned woman added. “I will not rest until Thanos is utterly destroyed.” 

“We want to help,” Steven said immediately. His expression was hard and stubborn. “But we need a plan. He’s too powerful to simply attack without one.” 

“I have a plan,” the woman snapped. 

“She wants to blow up his ship and hope he’s on it,” Stark snorted. 

“I have two plans,” the woman said after a moment. 

“I’ll go with you,” Rocket declared. The woman gave him a disdainful look and he rolled his eyes. “With Quill…with Quill gone, the ship is mine. You want off this rock, I’m going with.” 

Thor turned away from the ensuing argument, striding over to where Stark was to embrace him. He was surprised but not unpleased to find Stark pat his shoulder in comradery before pulling away and walking purposefully to where Rhodey was running towards them. Thor winced at the resulting crash but neither man seemed to pay it any mind. They murmured back and forth for several minutes, Thor heard “Pepper” and “safe” before Stark practically collapsed against his friend. 

“He is injured,” the woman spoke up suddenly as everyone cried out in alarm. “His technology kept him from bleeding out but he has gotten worse in the days it took to get here.” 

“What happened?” 

“You didn’t think to tell us that first?!”

“Where is the injury?” Steven, Banner, and Queen Shuri all demanded at the same time, stepping towards Stark with intent. 

“Thanos stabbed him,” the woman answered as the queen and Banner found the wound themselves. He heard them murmur something about nanites, though Thor was unsure what that meant. The blue woman continued, sounding angry. “The wizard with him gave Thanos the time stone to save his life, pitiful though it seems to be in comparison.” 

“Strange said it was the only way,” Stark said, his voice muffled as he was poked and prodded by the Queen and Banner. “He…he said he went forward in time, to see how to win. He only found one way. I think…I think in order for us to ultimately defeat him, Thanos had to get all six stones, that this had to happen. Before he…before he disappeared, he said we’re in the end game now.” 

“We will discuss this later, after I have gotten you into surgery,” the Queen announced abruptly. “Your nanites have kept you alive this long but there is internal damage that will slowly kill you if we do not fix it soon.” Then, completely ignoring Stark’s protests, she turned and started giving orders to several people around them. 

“Who does she think she is?” Stark finally demanded, looking at Banner, Rhodes, and Steven. 

“The Queen,” Rhodes was the one to answer. “As her brother, King T’Challa, was among those to disappear.” 

~~*~~

Everyone shared everyone’s story, trying to find anything they could use to help fight Thanos. Nebula, the cybernetic woman and Gamora’s adopted sister (which meant she too had been an adopted daughter of Thanos, something neither he nor Rocket had yet shared with the others) had remained, if only because Rocket had locked her out of the ship and she couldn’t seem to get around his command yet.

In the end, it was decided they had to plan but first, they had to take care of Earth. Shuri, naturally, remained in Wakanda to guide her people but Rogers, Stark, Banner, Natasha, himself, and Rhodes all left to return to New York. It was on the way to the city that they received word from Clint Barton and Scott Lang. Hank Pym had disappeared, as had Scott’s daughter and ex-wife, but Hope had survived. It was Clint’s news, that he had watched all three of his children and his wife disappear, that caused them all to go silent the remainder of the trip.

~~*~~

Seeing Stark’s emotional reunion with the Lady Pepper made Thor realize he had to know of two others fates. Though they had ended their romantic relationship, he still cared deeply for Jane and also Darcy, who he viewed as a beloved sister. He must know what had become of them both.

“Are you sure about this?” Steven asked as they approached the apartment Jane had been sharing with Darcy in the city of New York. “If she’s gone…” 

“I must know for certain,” Thor insisted once again, for Steven had been asking him this question the entire drive over. “I will not be able to settle until I know for sure.” 

Steven sighed but seemed to give in. 

The door was locked when they got there so Thor knocked. He’d been lectured by Darcy about Midgardian manners enough to know if either were inside, they would not take kindly to him simply breaking down the door. 

No one answered but he could hear someone moving inside. They were hesitate steps, as if deciding whether or not to come to the door. “Jane? Darcy?” Thor called, hoping whoever was inside would open for a friend. The movement stopped completely for a second before a strangled cry echoed loud enough to be heard by even a mortal. The steps rushed forward, the door was frantically unlocked, and when it opened, Thor knew. 

“Jane’s gone!” Darcy sobbed, throwing herself at the Asgardian. His heart breaking even more, Thor wrapped her in his arms and squeezed her to him. Steven, bless him, simply ushered them both inside the apartment, closed and locked it behind them, then went to the kitchen and gave them privacy as they wept. 

Eventually, Darcy fell asleep against him, having clearly exhausted herself. Lifting his head from her hair, he called softly for his friend. Steven poked his head out and, taking in Darcy’s unconscious form, grew concerned. 

“She sleeps,” he said simply and Steven nodded. “I am bringing her back to the compound.” 

Steven looked like his initial response was to deny him but he stopped and instead nodded. His jaw tightened and he turned away. 

“Jane was among those to disappear then?” Steven asked instead, his voice rough. 

“Aye, it appears so,” Thor agreed. “Darcy told me they were breakfasting when it occurred. At first, they thought it due to the Reality stone, or as she and Jane know it as, the Aether.”

“Jane hosted it at one point, didn’t she?” Steven asked suddenly, frowning as he turned back to the two. Thor also frowned. 

“Unwillingly she held it, yes,” he said, wondering where the Captain was going with this. The other man’s frown deepened before he pulled out the phone Stark had given them before their departure. 

“Strange had the Time Stone, he disappeared,” Steven said as he dialed. “Jane held the Reality stone, she disappeared. Vision held the Mind stone and Wanda’s powers were derived from it and both of them are gone. Even Loki technically had the Space Stone for a while and he was killed too…” 

“The Guardians at one point all held the Power Stone,” Thor said, eyes widening. “Only the Rabbit remains of those, for all the rest vanished. And he could never hold the Power Stone on his own. It would destroy him.”

“Erik’s gone too,” Steven informed him and Thor’s eyes closed in more grief. “And he was manipulated by the Mind stone.” 

“Barton, however, also remains,” Thor pointed out.

“Tony told me Strange had a partner, an apprentice or something,” he frowned. “I wonder if he ever used the Time stone?” 

“And if he did, was he among those lost?” Steven clearly thought there was something to this and Thor could not fault him for it. It seemed too much for all but two of those eleven who were known to have welded or were affected by the stones to have been those lost. 

Someone finally answered the call Steven had placed and the man turned around, going back to the kitchen for the privacy it afforded. There was some wiggling around and he looked down to find Darcy looking back up at him. 

“How much did you hear?” he asked. 

“So this might have been because of the aether?” she asked and he frowned. 

“A creature known as Thanos desired the six Inifinity Stones, items that allowed for the control of what they represented--”

“There’s one missing,” Darcy interrupted him. “You mentioned Time, Power, Mind, Reality, and Space. That’s five.” 

“Soul,” he answered. “The sixth is the Soul Stone. We have it under good authority it was retrieved by Thanos when he sacrificed his daughter for it.”

“So Thanos…he did this?” she said and he nodded. “Who’s he?” 

“The mad Titan, a being of strength and death,” Thor said. “He has reportedly been after the stones for some time to do exactly as he said he would—“ 

“Vanish people?” she asked incredulously. “What does he hope to gain from doing that?!” 

“Gamora, his daughter, told me he believed it was the only way for any species to survive, that unchecked births and the ensuing consuming of resources would cause the downfall of every being in the cosmos.”

“He vanished 3 billion people in order to _save_ us?!” she demanded incredulously. 

“I did not say I agreed with him, I merely said that was how his daughter explained it to me.” 

“Ugh!” 

“Gamora was Nebula’s sister,” Steven said and Thor looked over at him as Darcy attempted to smother herself in the sweater he was wearing. “They were Thanos’ daughters?” 

“Adopted and not of their choosing,” Thor said instantly and with a firm tone. “It is my understanding Nebula looks as she does due to Thanos—anytime she lost a fight, a part of her body was replaced with a cybernetic one.” Or so the Rabbit had said when he’d asked. Both Steven and Darcy looked horrified by this and he knew neither would hold her past with Thanos against the woman. Steven might ask for input based on her past experience with the Titan but he would not hold her accountable for the actions of her adopted father. Just as he had not held Thor to what Loki had done. 

Loki. 

A piercing sharp pain resonated in his chest at the thought of his brother. He’d successfully kept his attention from going to him for nigh on a week but now…now he’d been mentioned or thought several times in the span of only a few hours. He took a deep breath, knowing even as he did so that he could not hold off on the grief for much longer. 

And despite all he had done, Loki deserved to be grieved for. 

“Hey, big guy, you alright?” Darcy asked suddenly as Steven abruptly turned and went back into the kitchen. 

“I am fine, little one,” he said, kissing her forehead. 

“Yeah, ‘cause everyone cries when they’re fine.” 

Confused, Thor looked down at her. She reached up and wiped at his face, which he suddenly realized was wet. 

“Ah,” he said and she shook her head, burrowing in close to him. “I was thinking of Loki.” 

“He died, right?” 

“Aye, Thanos killed him in front of me,” he agreed. He couldn’t see it but he suspected she had just winced. 

“No offense, cause you know I love you and I don’t mean to hurt you but are you sure he’s actually dead this time?” Darcy asked. “Cause he’s pulled this trick before.” 

“Yes, he has,” Thor agreed. At her comment, he couldn’t help but consider Loki’s final words to him, how he seemed so confident when he said the sun would shine on them again. How uncharacteristic it was for him not to put up more of a fight, how he could have left Thanos holding a copy and not…

A string of profanities spewed from his mouth as he moved away from Darcy and went to the window and the fire escape there, Stormbreaker flying into his hand. “Loki!” he finally growled. “Come to me, now!” he ordered and held the axe high. There was a brief thump and then a groan before a familiar figure stumbled to his feet and through the window. 

“Took you long enough to figure it out,” his brother said, dusting off his clothes. “I thought I was going to have to wait on that godfors-ack!”

Thor gripped him tightly, uncaring what Steven nor Darcy thought as he hugged his brother to him. 

“Loki,” Steven said and he sounded…not happy, exactly, but not unhappy either. There was relief in his gaze when Thor looked upon him, but he also was wary. “How did you survive?” 

“I used my cunning and wit, Captain,” Loki answered flippantly and Thor immediately cuffed him on the back of the head. “Oh, fine, you stupid oaf, I knew what was coming the moment I saw Thanos’ ship.” 

“You disappeared for several minutes before he finally breached the ship,” Thor recalled and his brother nodded, looking a bit smug. “You knew what was to come?” 

“It’s interesting,” Loki said, trying to shrug Thor off and, when that proved futile, simply rolled his eyes and let his hand remain on the back of his neck. “But the last time I was on Earth, before our return to Asgard and that appalling gag—“ 

“Loki, get on with it!” 

“I am, brother, calm yourself,” Loki said, now annoyed. He shook it off and smiled charmingly at Darcy and Steven. “As I was saying, before we left for Asgard after the Chitauri, I was approached by Stark. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but looking back now…he was clearly older.” 

“Older?” Thor asked, brow furrowing. 

“Yes, older,” he agreed. “And he had an unfamiliar man and a young boy with him, no older than fifteen or sixteen years—called himself Spiderboy.” 

“Spiderman,” Steven corrected automatically and then they all seemed to realize what he’d said. “Wait, Tony didn’t meet Peter until two years ago, which was only a year or so since he was bit by the spider and…” 

“Yes, so how, pray tell, did I meet the boy, with an older version of Stark and some man with an affinity for ants, seven years ago?” Loki finished. 

“What did they—they say?” Steven asked. He looked an odd mix of hope and suspicion, a look Thor knew all too well in relation to Loki. 

“They told me exactly what I needed to know to save myself from Thanos,” the god of mischief said. “At the time I thought it was simply some clever ruse, a trick to get me to join them or some other nonsense. However, Stark…Stark also mentioned what had happened to Mother. What would happen to Asgard. And your hair, he spent a breathtaking amount of time making fun of your new hair.” 

Thor didn’t know which part of that he should focus on—that Loki had been told what would come to pass with Mother and Asgard or that Stark had apparently felt the need to mention his new look.

“When did you realize it was real and not a trick?” That was Darcy, standing just off to the side of Steven and looking at Loki with an unreadable expression. 

“When Mother died,” he answered after a moment. “At least, that was when I began to think it might not have been a trick. I wasn’t entirely convinced, however.” 

“Why not?” 

“Thor has always been a pompous idiot when it comes to his hair,” Loki said and Thor hit him on the back of his head again. His brother shot him a dirty look before looking at Steven and Darcy. “I couldn’t bring myself to believe what I had been told when I knew Thor would never willingly cut his hair. No,” he sighed. “It wasn’t until Thor entered the arena on Sokar that I realized it must have been true. Then…then I began planning.” 

“And you planned how to keep yourself alive while making Thanos think he’d killed you,” Steven said and Loki nodded. “I don’t know whether to be impressed by the fact you managed it or horrified you let Thor think you’d died again.”

“Impressed of course, such a thing was NOT an easy feat,” he sniffed. Then he paused, as if something had occurred to him, and he looked at Thor. “Also, that axe of yours, can it open the bifrost anywhere?” 

Thor paused himself then narrowed his eyes. “Why?” he asked with a growl. “What have you done?” 

“Well, if you _don’t_ want to be reunited with the Valkyrie then---“ 

“She lives?!” 

“She followed me when I disappeared,” he answered and he sounded quite put out about it. “I managed to subdue her so she wasn’t slaughtered with the rest and then I put her someplace where she could be kept safe.” 

“Somehow I doubt that is how she sees it,” Thor sighed. “Where?” 

Loki told him and Thor winced. “You sent her to Surtur’s homeworld? Have you gone mad?” 

“Madder?” Darcy muttered. 

“No, I have not,” he sniffed. “After his destruction, the planet was deserted. And I did leave her with food and drink.” 

“Just not a way off the planet.” 

“Precisely, so glad you understand.” 

Thor sighed, went back to the window, and held Stormbreaker aloft once again. “Valkyrie!” he shouted and the bifrost opened. It was several moments before a figure stumbled through, looking nigh on furious. Her armor was the same, though covered in soot, and her hair was braided back once again, though Thor was unsure why. 

“That brother of yours is...YOU!” she yelled and lunged forward. Thor easily caught her, holding her in a vice grip to keep her from murdering the one person who seemed to have any plans at all at the moment. 

“You cannot kill him, Valkyrie,” he ordered, his voice holding what she and Loki had both called his kingly tone. “He saved your life.”

“Saved my…he hid me away on some hell hole that smelled like thousand year old farts!” 

“And thus saved you from the slaughter that took everyone else on the ship,” he said sharply. She faltered and he pressed forward. “It was Thanos, the mad Titan. Only the three of us and Banner survived. They slaughtered and then blew up the rest.”

“So Heimdall…?” she asked after a moment. 

“His last act was to get Banner off the ship and back to Midgard to warn them of Thanos’ coming,” Thor said. “And Loki did what he had to do to keep you alive. You may not agree with him, but I stand by what he did. I have already lost too many this day.”

Valkyrie seemed then to take in the occupants of the room, of the despair and devastation he knew could be seen in all their eyes. 

“What happened?” she whispered. “What did Thanos do?” 

~~*~~

Thor convinced Darcy and Valkyrie to return to the Tower with them once they had both been brought up to date on what had transpired. The Asgardian warrior was spoiling for a fight, which Steven promised she’d get once they came up with a plan. 

“There’s already a plan in motion,” Loki said as they rode home in the towncar Stark had arranged for them. “Mine and Valkyrie’s continuing existence is proof.” 

“Yeah, but Tony hasn’t actually come up with it yet…and I have no idea how we’re getting Peter and going back in time,” Steven said, looking both perplexed and stressed. “Which means we still have to actually, you know, come up with the plan.” 

“I can’t believe there is a plan in motion that we haven’t actually planned yet,” Darcy muttered almost to herself. Louder, she added, “That’s some serious Doctor Who shit right there.” 

“Doctor What?” Valkyrie asked, confused. 

“Doctor Who.” 

“What?” 

“No, Who!” 

“Who?” 

“Exactly!” 

“It is a television show, a form of entertainment, here on Midgard about an alien that looks human and can travel in time and space called Doctor Who,” Loki finally broke in. He frowned at their fellow Asgardian. “Also, how are you drunk? I didn’t leave you with any alcohol.” 

From the glare being sent his way, that was probably the worst part of what Loki had done in Valkyrie’s eyes. Thor hid a smile.

“Regrettably, I have not drank since the ship,” she informed them all with a growl. 

“This is you sober?” Loki demanded. “We’re in worse trouble than I thought.” 

Thor sighed as Valkyrie lunged forward and started choking him.


End file.
